


One on One

by wordsareleftbehind (froggydarren)



Series: In Another Life [8]
Category: Glee RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-07
Updated: 2013-09-07
Packaged: 2017-12-25 22:00:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/958078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/froggydarren/pseuds/wordsareleftbehind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For CrisscolferAUWednesdays<br/>Week #11: theme - gamer<br/>A sequel to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/805353">Capture the Flag</a>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One on One

Joey eyed Darren as they were settling in the plane and quirked his eyebrow up when the fidgeting started again the moment Darren's seatbelt was on.

"You okay there?"

"Fine," Darren replied with a clipped tone, "just fine."

"Are you nervous about Chris?"

Darren whipped his head around and shot his best friend a glare.

"Dude, you've been gaming for months now, talking until all hours in the morning," Joey sighed, "I don't get why you're so nervous about meeting him."

"Because it's different, okay?"

"What, you can only get your flirt on when you've a bazooka loaded?"

"Rethink that sentence, Joseph, please," Darren couldn't hold back the chuckle.

"Fuck you," Joey snapped back, "Or well, don't. Just... shut up, Criss."

Darren continued laughing, slightly relieved that the conversation settled his nerves a little. He knew that at the end of their flight, there wouldn't only be the promise of his Mom's cooking and his own bed, but also a possibility of meeting Chris. Joey had a point, they'd spent almost every night playing and chatting since that one random game. It shouldn't feel like a major thing to know that they'd meet in person, but Darren couldn't help feeling nervous.

He knew almost everything about Chris that he considered important. They talked about school, about family, about gaming, about music and their hobbies in general and if he was honest with himself, he was more than a little intrigued. Despite Chris' occasionally voiced worries that Darren would see him as just a weird kid, their age gap or the fact that Chris was still in high school wasn't something that Darren was bothered with. The only thing he didn't know was what Chris looked like. He asked, of course, but Chris refused to send a photo and didn't, if Darren was to believe him, open and look at any of the photos that Darren emailed after they exchanged addresses.

"Dude, stop bouncing," Joey snapped towards the end of the flight after Darren spent the majority of it picking on anything within his reach, which also included, for a little while, Joey's shirt.

"I just…"

"Stop, breathe, we're almost there, it's early and you have time to get to the event."

Darren and Chris decided that they would meet at a gaming event in San Fran, since it took place when Darren's summer break was starting and Chris was done with school too. It took some negotiating with Chris' parents, but he managed to arrange a stay in the city for the week-long event, with the promise that he'd check out local colleges that he'd gotten accepted to and some he wanted to re-apply to. They had each others' phone numbers and Darren promised to get in touch the moment he made it to the centre where the event was taking place.

Joey managed to get his friend to calm down enough that they made it out of the plane, found their luggage and out of the airport, though Darren's eyes were glued to his phone and his watch most of the time.

"Hey Chuck," Joey called out to Darren's brother who was picking them up, since Joey was staying for a few days before heading to his parents' place.

"What's with him?" Chuck glanced to his little brother.

"He's in looooove," Joey smirked.

"Chris?" Chuck asked simply, having heard about the boy in phone calls.

Joey nodded and they steered Darren to Chuck's car, wrangling all their bags into it.

"Mom cooked your favorite dinner, Dar," Chuck attempted to start a conversation, but Darren didn't look up until Joey poked him in the ribs.

"Oh, yeah, awesome," Darren nodded absent-mindedly, "Oh, Chuck, can you drop us off at the con?"

"Darren!"

"What?"

"Seriously? You haven't been home in months!"

"I will be later tonight, I just…"

Chuck laughed at Darren's pleading expression.

"Hey Joey, since you're the guest and all," Chuck turned to Joey and they both smirked, "do you need to get freshened up at the house first? Since my brother has zero manners, I figured I'd offer."

"That's not the worst… fuck, Darren," Joey yelped when Darren's elbow nudged sharply into his side, "Hurts!"

Chuck was still laughing when Joey muttered that he'd be okay with heading straight to the gaming convention instead of to the Criss' place.

"You owe me," he hissed at Darren when Chuck pulled over next to a sign that had the event's name.

"No sexual favors, Joseph," Darren sighed, "We talked about that."

"I'll leave those to your boy toy," the remark was accompanied by Chuck's laughter.

"Thanks, bro," Darren called out over his shoulder, out of the car already, "Tell Mom I…"

"I'll tell her you're getting lucky," Chuck shouted once the car was pulling away.

"Now, before you decide to chase after your brother to kill him," Joey grabbed Darren by the shoulder, "let's find this little Quake prodigy."

###

The place was absolutely _packed_ with people when they made it into the gaming room. Each computer that was set up had at least two people hovering over the one person who was playing at the time, shouts and cusses flying freely out of people's mouths. Darren realized that in the noise of it all, it would be near impossible to get Chris to notice a call or even a text message, but he sent a quick one anyway to let him know they'd arrived. Unsurprisingly, his phone did not vibrate with a reply immediately, so he started looking around the unfamiliar crowd, even though he didn’t know what he was looking for.

"Oh hey Dare," he heard over the noise of the room and turned to come to face with one of his old classmates, "Good to see you back, how's college?"

They fell into easy conversation and catching up, since Darren had not been around much after his move to Michigan. While they were talking and made introductions to people they'd come to the event with, a computer freed up next to them.

"Oh hey, do you mind?" Darren directed the question at his old friend and at Joey.

They both nodded and Darren slid into the chair, immediately scanning the game and player list for the familiar handle that he knew Chris by. He spotted it just in time to request a game and slipped the headphones on while he ran through the one on one set up.

"Hi stranger!" he greeted easily when the game connected and he knew Chris would hear him.

Instead of getting a response over the headphones, he saw Chris typing a greeting over the chat interface.

"Playing a game, are we?" Darren smirked, deciding to speak instead of typing.

_/say You're lazy. Bet I can still kick your ass even if I type my responses._

"Cheeky," Darren couldn't hold the chuckle back, "You're pretty sure of yourself. I am on home advantage here."

_/say Being in your home town doesn't give you much of an advantage. But if you think you need that bonus…_

"I don't… fuck!" Darren was looking at the re-spawn screen while his brain registered that he'd already been shot down by Chris without even noticing.

_/say You were saying?_

Darren let his eyes glance around the room while he waited for the play to reset to game mode again, but he couldn't figure out which one of the players could be Chris. It took another few painfully short games before he heard Chris' chuckle in the headphones after a particularly frustrated groan.

"Okay, I give up, you're definitely kicking my ass," Darren admitted sheepishly, "Care to tell me where you are so I can congratulate you? Or, well, stare at you while you play, because damn, you're good."

"You knew this, I kick your ass on a regular basis," Chris finally spoke up and Darren laughed.

"That you do," he replied, his curiosity increasing, "Come on, leave the games for the screens and tell me where you are. Please?"

Darren heard the heavy intake of breath and his own breathing got shallower as he waited for a reaction. There was a beat of silence, only disturbed by the noise of the room muted by the headphones.

"Look to your left," he finally heard in a hushed tone.

His head immediately whipped around and his jaw dropped as he took in the sight. A blush was prominent on the face of the boy at the desk next to Darren's, highlighted by the paleness of his skin. Darren slowly turned his whole body around and slipped off the headset while he tried to catch Chris' eye.

"Hi," Chris muttered when he finally looked up from the screen, still blushing, "so, this is awkward."

"Only if we let it," Darren smiled warmly, reaching a hand out in greeting, "Nice to finally meet you, man. So, are you up for teaming up or would I just drag you down unnecessarily?"

A light chuckle escaped Chris' lips, laced with relief.

"You'll drag me down for sure," he quipped and ignored Darren's offended pout, "But it's not going to do that much damage as long as you follow instructions well."

"Let's just see if I need any," Darren continued pouting, "You wound me, Christopher."

"I would never," Chris remarked in a serious tone, "That would be counter-productive since you're on my team."

They quickly set up a team in the game and fell into easy banter while playing, teasing their opponents as much as they teased each other while playing.  Soon enough, Chris gained a few observers who gathered behind his chair, including Joey who quickly stopped pretending to be behind Darren and unashamedly cheered Chris on, much to Darren's chagrin. Eventually, Chris declared time for a break and they let others take over while they headed to the makeshift coffee and snack table in the corner of the room.

"You're awesome at this," Darren stated between sips of his drink, "the move you did there in the game with Todd…"

"Yeah, well, practice," Chris said quietly, "not much else to do at home."

Darren, sensing the shift it mood quickly, reached for Chris' hand and tugged him out into a quiet corridor. There was a sadness that seemed to be settled deep in Chris' features and suddenly all Darren wanted was to somehow take it away.

"Seriously, man, the way you led the whole mission in the last game," Darren babbled, nervousness washing over him, "I could've kissed you for that strategy…"

He froze when the words that slipped from his mouth registered thanks to the way Chris' face whipped up towards Darren, eyes wide in shock.

"I mean, not if you… not that I…"

"Yeah, didn't think so," Chris muttered, head dropping back down.

Darren's heart sank as he heard the tone of Chris' voice and he stepped closer, his hand reaching up to Chris' chin to push it up.

"Chris, don't…" he whispered and leaned in, "Do you want me to?"

The nod was almost imperceptible and Darren sensed it against his hand that was still on Chris' jaw more than he saw it, but it was enough of an answer.

"Okay…" he breathed out and moved the last little bit until their lips brushed against each other.


End file.
